If you buy an EV this year, chances are next year’s model will offer a slightly better battery for the same price. As a result, resale values for most EVs are terrible (or wonderful, if you’re looking to buy a used car). Three-year-old Nissan LEAFs are going for around a quarter of their original MSRPs…. Read more »
The makers of plug-in vehicles generally agree on the importance of charging infrastructure, and several have invested substantial sums in workplace charging. Daimler, the maker of the Mercedes B-Class Electric Drive and S 500 Plug-in Hybrid, as well as the smart electric drive, has already built 556 employee charging points. The company recently announced an… Read more »
Korea-based SK Innovation has been selected as a Lithium-ion battery cell supplier for Mercedes-Benz EV projects. SK Innovation released no details of the arrangement, saying only that its battery cells “will be deployed in multiple electric vehicle models in diverse segments.” SK Innovation says it has recently doubled capacity at its plant in Seosan, Korea,… Read more »
Aston Martin has formed a partnership with Letv, a Chinese tech company that has reportedly invested in several EV ventures, including Faraday Future and Atieva. The two companies plan to work together to develop and manufacture the RapidE, an electric version of Aston Martin’s Rapide four-door sports sedan that was unveiled as a concept last… Read more »
Maxwell Technologies has introduced a new addition to its K2 family of ultracapacitor cells. A 3-volt, 3,000-farad cell is now available in sample quantities. The new cell offers 31% higher power than Maxwell’s existing 2.7-volt, 3,000-farad cell, and is packaged in the same industry-standard 60 mm cylindrical form factor. Maxwell points out that customers can… Read more »
Saab AB, the Swedish aerospace company that owns the Saab brand, won’t allow its name or logo to be used on cars produced by National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS), the Chinese-backed firm that bought the assets of bankrupt Saab Automobile in 2012. “We have revoked their right to use the brand name,” and the matter… Read more »
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has published a new report that found that Proterra’s battery-electric buses are nearly four times more fuel-efficient than comparable compressed natural gas (CNG) buses. The study focuses on a pilot project for California’s Foothill Transit, in which 12 Proterra e-buses logged nearly 400,000 miles of on-road testing. The NREL… Read more »
Five months after Volkswagen’s emissions cheating scandal came to light, the German carmaker is still in talks with the EPA about finding a technical fix for almost 600,000 affected diesel cars that were sold in the US. The German newspaper Welt am Sonntag (via Reuters) reports that the EPA has asked Volkswagen to provide a… Read more »
The business of prospecting for lithium is still tiny compared to the worldwide oil exploration industry, but some companies are already buying up tracts of land that may contain motherlodes of the light white stuff. The lithium exploration and development company Lithium X Energy has announced its acquisition of the CVL Lithium Property in Nevada’s… Read more »
Evatran’s Plugless has been offering a wireless charging system for the Nissan LEAF and the Chevy Volt since 2013. The company is now taking orders for a Model S version, for delivery in April. At the moment, the system is only compatible with the rear-wheel-drive Model S, but the company says that a solution for… Read more »
